South Africa JSE 40 Falls 1.8% to 49,580.21; Naspers Leads

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The FTSE/JSE Africa Top40 Tradeable Index fell for the ninth day, dropping 1.8 percent, or 916.09 to 49,580.21. The index dropped to the lowest level since Sept. 29. The MSCI Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa Index declined 2.1 percent.

Naspers Ltd. contributed the most to the decline and had the biggest loss, decreasing 4.3 percent. The biggest movers also included: Anglo American, down 3.7 percent; and Standard Bank, down 3.4 percent.

In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss two times and continued to fall the next day by an average 1 percent. The index drops below 200-day moving average.

Today, 15 of 43 shares fell, while none rose. The South Africa JSE 40 is down 5.6 percent so far this year. The index is 10 percent below its 52-week high of 55,192.15 reached on Nov. 21 and 13 percent above its 52-week low of 43,772.06 on on March 9.

MACRO: The S. African Rand appreciated 0.15 percent to 12.1103 against the U.S. dollar. Credit default swaps were unchanged at 149.00.